February 14, 2002 In Vigilance, Jinx announced a moratorium on its New York urban exploration activities until terror concerns were abated. The decision was based on ethical considerations: It was feared that tunneling, bridge climbing, and other U.E. activities might result in terrorism false alarms or panic. Recent intelligence suggests the Jinx Project may have relaxed this moratorium. The latest developments in New York City strongly support a new resolution to temporarily cease urban exploration. The public is alert and suspicious. In the light of recent terror warnings from the Department of Homeland Security, and a promotion of the threat level to High (Orange), has increased New Yorkers' concerns about suspicious activity in the city. More specifically, the news media have reported a government suspicion that subways will be targeted. Subways are the milieu of urban exploration. It's difficult to imagine that routine exploration activities would fail to raise an alarm. Jinx standard protocols for city missions have generally allowed very lax standards of secrecy. Jinx has repeatedly engaged in unlawful trespassing in broad daylight, or otherwise in full view of the public. This has generally been justified by convenience, high mission priority, propaganda/psy-war value, and a relative indifference to the prospect of arrest. In the current environment, it seems clear that such standards should at the very least be greatly tightened. The police and the military are actively securing the infrastructure. Grand Central Terminal, a prime urban exploration target, is now patrolled by National Guardsmen with bomb-sniffing dogs. These patrols routinely question suspicious-looking persons, including the homeless. No one is more suspicious-looking than a Jinx agent in uniform, with his sunglasses on, indoors, at night. Police in the subways are at high alert. They are carrying oxygen-level monitors, chemical and radiation detectors, and gas masks. They're engaged in aggressive reconnaissance. The temptation, among more reckless Jinx personnel, will be to see these new factors as challenges to be overcome. These agents and officers are urged to consider that they are not risking themselves alone. In 1989, when two Jinx officers were arrested on the roof of Grand Central Terminal, there was no terror war underway. The authorities were at a low level of alert. Yet the response was dramatic: Three undercover police officers, a dozen uniformed officers, and at least one fire engine were called in to handle the situation. Any time the city carries out such a large emergency response lives are put at risk. In a time of terror, this risk is greatly exacerbated. It is the recommendation of the Jinx Ministry of Peace, therefore, that the Jinx moratorium on urban exploration be reinstated at once. This memorandum is for your eyes only. Destroy it immediately.